Falling Apart
by Rainbow-Writer 8
Summary: After the events of FFXII-2. Vanille misses Fang who has been captured by an old enemy, one they didn't think was alive. Will Fang return? And who is this enemy? HopexVanille SnowxSerah NoelxSerah with slight NoelxYeul.  Oerba Memories
1. Chapter 1

**AN- This is my first fanfic, i know the first chapter is short but hopefully next few will be longer. Anyway don't own any characters or setting only the story idea. Thanks for reading.**

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><p>Vanille walked down the streets of Oerba, the place was abandoned and looked like ruins. But Oerba Dia Vanille loved a few hours to walk down the streets once in a while.<p>

She walked over to the small beach before sitting down on the sand, letting the water wash over her bare feet. Her boots were at the side as she looked up at the sun letting the light shine upon her.

The heat began to make her body glow, she brought her knees up to her chest as tears began to fall freely down her smooth cheeks.

"Kweh?"

Vanille turned around to see a silver choboco standing behind her, she laughed before she stood up walking towards the bird. "Hi, Vinnie." She cooed as she rubbed the bird's neck, the choboco warked happily before she laughed with happiness.

Vinnie always knew how to make her smile but she wasn't the only person. At that moment Vanille felt two arms wrap around her waist before joining at the front.

"You miss her, don't you?" A voice came, Vanille laughed quietly before nodding.

The newcomer took their arms away as Vanille walked forward, her hands clasped behind her back, as usual she walked with a spring in her step.

"Well of course, Fang was like my sister." She smiled before she spun round with a bright smile on her face.

"Vanille, I know it's hard but you have us." Vanille ran right into the arms of the young man before she rested her head on his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Thank you, Hope."

The director leaned back and nodded his head, he released his grip on her waist and took her hand. "We need to go before this gate closes for another day."

Vanille nodded before she waved to the choboco, "bye Vinnie. See you soon."

The bird warked happily as Hope and Vanille went through the time gate into the historia crux.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN- Yay this chapter is longer , thanks for reading. :)**

**- R-W**

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><p>"Hey you're back," Noel said as Vanille and Hope came out from the historia crux and back to Academia 4XX.<p>

Hope easily landed on his feet but Vanille on the other hand landed on her backside, Serah laughed and ran up towards her before holding out a hand.

"You'll get used to it," Vanille took her hand before she got pulled up by her friend, she looked around and saw Snow, Noel and Lightning on the laptop.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked before Hope and Serah walked towards the trio, "what the…" Hope mumbled.

Vanille walked over towards the group and jumped up to see what they were looking at, she kept jumping before she caught a glimpse of what looked like a fal'cie.

"Print it off." She heard Lightning say before Snow clicked on a couple of things, a buzzing sound came from the other side of the room, Vanille was about to run over to it but a white shape raced past her.

"Got it, Kupo!" The shape held up the paper that came off the printer, Vanille chased after the moogle as she tried to get the paper.

"Help Kupoooo!" Mog flew around the room with the paper in hand, but the pulsian was close behind until Mog flew high in the air.

"Hey up here, Kupo."

Vanille looked up before she ran to the couch and climbed on, Mog struggled to fly higher. "Give me the paper."

Hope rolled his eyes, "That's enough, Vanille."

"No, I almost got it." Vanille reached out for the animal, Vanille was actually no where near the moogle or the paper. Hope walked over to the struggling girl and lifted her off the couch.

"Hey, let me go," Vanille whined but Hope didn't grant her wishes, Mog happily flew down before hiding behind Serah. "Thank you Hope, Kupo."

Hope smiled before he put the girl down, "Calm down."

Vanille folded her arms over her chest, defeated, as Mog handed the paper to Lightning. "Thanks Mog."

Mog nodded in reply to Lightning as Vanille walked over with Hope to the rest of the group. "Hope, what's going on?"

Hope smiled at the girl before he took her hand, pulling her faster towards the gang.

"Hey Hope, you think you can decipherer this code?" Snow asked as he handed the paper to the young man. He scanned the paper, looking at the weird looking shapes and symbols. "Yeah I guess but it will take me a while."

"Great, let's get to work." Noel said as he clapped his hands together, everyone nodded before they all walked in different directions. Vanille was left standing so she decided to follow Serah who had walked into the kitchen to make the lunch. She looked up and smiled at Vanille, "Hey, what's up?"

Vanille walked over next to Serah and began to chop up the vegetables while Serah began to get bowls and cups out. "Serah, can I ask you something?"

The time traveler looked at her friend before nodding, "anything."

The pulsian finished chopping and put the food slices into a bowl that Serah had brought out, she began to think about what the others were doing. She was caught in her thoughts that she didn't notice her friend shaking her, trying to snap her out of her trance, "Vanille!"

"Huh?"

"You okay?" Serah asked, Vanille blinked a couple of times before her cheeks went a bit pink with embarrassment.

"Yeah sorry, lost in my thoughts. I wanted to ask what's going on?"

Serah cocked her head to the side, "what do you mean?"

Vanille rolled her eyes, "you know what I mean."

Serah mixed the vegetables with some sort of liquid that was a clear colour. "Vanille, let's just say it is a birthday surprise," she winked before she scooped the salad onto 8 plates. "Do me a favor and call Sazh, he took Dajh to the park."

Vanille nodded before she ran out of the kitchen and into the study, she looked around until she saw the wall phone, she thought to herself. _'Birthday surprise?' _She shrugged it off and punched in a number.

"Hello, Sazh speaking."

"Hey Sazh, its Vanille." The girl said cheerfully.

"Who is it, daddy?" Dajh said faintly across the phone, she heard Sazh chuckle.

"It's big sis, Vanille." Dajh gasped , "Hello sister, Vanille."

Vanille giggled before she sat down on the nearby desk, "Hello Dajh, have you been a good boy?"

"Uh huh."

Vanille smiled, she had always wanted a child but she had never had the chance, she shook her head of the thought, "can I speak with daddy?"

"Okay," she heard the sound of the mobile getting passed on. "What's up?"

"Serah is finished making the food so you've to come back."

"Okay thanks, Vanille, bye." With that a beep was made and Sazh cut off the connection, Vanille put the phone back before sitting down on the chair.

'_I wonder what's going on.' _She thought, she snapped her fingers before running in direction of Hope's study.

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><p>Snow, Noel and Lightning walked to the NORA house, in need of help from Maqui. Maqui could build anything and what they needed would surely take him awhile. As they reached the house a cat jumped in front of the entrance, it meowed at the trio.<p>

Snow and Noel smiled but to their surprise, Lightning of all people picked up the cat before petting the cat. It purred before Lightning laughed before holding it up in the air like you would do with a baby before she brought it back down, holding it close.

"Light?"

Lightning looked up at them with a confused look plastered on her face, "What I can't like kittens?"

"Yeah," Snow and Noel both said at the same time before Yuj came to the front, "hey guys. Looking for Maqui?"

They all nodded before Yuj went into the house to find Maqui, "Maqui."

After a couple of seconds, Maqui was racing to the front of the house, he stopped directly in front of the trio.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Maqui, you think you can make this?" Noel handed him a blueprint that was rolled up, Maqui unraveled it before he scanned the paper.

"I guess but I need parts," he folded the blueprint so it could fit in his tool bag that Hope had loaned him.

"Well were up for it, tell us what you need," Snow smiled before Maqui began to tell them all the objects and missing parts. The trio began to think of where to find the parts. Noel, being the best time traveler, knew exactly where to go.

"Augusta Tower, 200AF!" the others looked at him, wonder all over their faces. "Where on earth is that?" Snow asked him.

Noel rolled his eyes before pointing to the gate that was behind them, "Hello HISTORIA CRUX," he made sure to put an emphasis on Historia Crux to make his fellow comrades feel stupid.

Noel got his wish as the other three members felt their faces go pink with embarrassment, Maqui was quick to speak up.

"Well I gotta go get started on this, thanks offering to get the parts," with that the blonde haired boy was out of sight and back into shelter.

"I guess we better get going," Snow said before they all walked towards the time gate.

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><p>Mog and Hope were busy on the computer…well Hope was busy while Mog was busy drawing pictures of moogles onto paper that they didn't see Vanille walk in the door. She quietly tiptoed up to her boyfriend but just when she was about to get him Mog turned round and tapped Hope's shoulder.<p>

"What's up, Mog?" Hope asked before Mog spun his chair around before pointing to the intruder, "Vanille, Kupo."

Vanille smiled and waved at the duo, Hope crossed his arms over his chest before he leaned back in his chair, "Trying to sneak up on us?"

Vanille laughed nervously before she clasped her hands behind her back, "maaaybe."

Hope smiled before he held his arms open, Vanille smiled before she sat on his lap, she put her arms around his neck before he put his arms around her.

Mog looked at them sadly before he began to play with his clock, "Is it nice to be a couple, kupo?"

Hope looked up at the flying creature before waving it to come over towards him, it flew over.

"Have you never had a…eh… moogle girlfriend?"

Mog shook his head, "Never had to chance, kupo."

Vanille looked up at the flying creature, "I thought Noel and Serah took you back to your hometown," Mog shook his head, its light up bobble shaking.

"They did but I decided to stay with them, kupo." Mog said a little happier as he bounced around the room, the couple laughed before the creature sat on Hope's shoulder.

Somehow Mog thought of Hope as a big brother, it was a little weird at first that a moogle could relate to a former l'cie, (or so Hope claimed to be) but that was soon overlooked when Hope had saved Mog from a monster called a Navidon.

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><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

"Where is that ticket? Kupo."

Mog flew across the plains of the archylte steppe, searching for a casino ticket that Noel had 'accidently' lost when battling a svarog. So he decided to ask Mog to search for the missing item. Mog reluctantly agreed to fetch it, Serah offered to go with him but Mog insisted she stayed.

Mog continued to fly until he saw a shiny thing peek out from underneath a large purplish rock, "Finally, kupo."

He flew over before flying down, he pulled at the silver ticket but it would not budge,

Mog didn't give up that easily. The small animal tugged and before he let go and wacked the rock with his clock. "Stupid rock, kupo!"

The 'rock' began to shake before legs came out the bottom and a head poked out at the front, the rock part of the monster appeared to be its shell. The monster let out a bone chilling roar before it swished its tail, making Mog tumble away.

"Ahhhhh." Mog screeched as he got blew away, the purple creature slowly made its way towards Mog, the small creature flew before the wind blew it towards the monster.

"Mog, look out!" Hope's voice came as his boomerang hit the scaly creature on its back, its attention locked onto Hope before it charged at him.

"Come and get it." Hope taunted before he jumped out the way, the creature got angry as it charged up its special attack. Hope smiled before he cast protect on himself, Mog looked at Hope as the man's hand became surrounded with flames, Hope smiled at his friend.

"You're a l'cie, kupo!" Hope raised his arm that was not on fire, he removed the orange scarf around his wrist to reveal his l'cie brand, Mog's little eyes went wide.

"I'll explain later, but first this thing." He turned his attention back to the monster who quickly unleashed its special move, Hope was quick to dodge before he fired his spell at the Navidon. The creature stumbled slightly before Hope threw the boomerang again, it hit off the shell before it returned to Hope's hand.

"Enfrost!"

Hope's boomerang became shining silver before he launched it at the monster for a 3rd time, he smiled as the shell cracked away leaving it as a large purple lizard. Hope launched it into the air before casting a thunder spell onto it. It fell to the ground with a thump before Hope cast his special attack called last resort to finish it off.

Mog flew over to the man before nodding at him, "Thank you, Hope…kupo!" Hope shook his head before handing him the ticket.

Mog reached out for it but Hope pulled away before giving him a serious stare but at the same time he had a smile on his face. "Listen, you can't tell anyone I'm a l'cie. I'm sure they will find out soon."

Mog nodded once again, "Promise, kupo."

Hope handed the small creature the ticket before they made their way to the time gate.

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><p><strong>End of flashback<strong>

Mog flew up before going back to drawing his picture, Vanille turned round and peeked behind Hope to look at his computer, Hope saw what she was doing and put a gloved hand over her eyes. "You can't get past me, Vanille."

She groaned before she was pushed back by Hope's hand, he lifted her off before standing up and switching off his computer. "Hopeeee." She groaned, unhappy that she didn't see what he was working on.

He took the code he was deciphering and gave put it on a high shelf, where Vanille couldn't reach it, "Sorry but I can't let you see."

Vanille huffed before punching him on the arm, Hope rubbed the arm. "Hey, you have a powerful punch."

Vanille smiled before swiftly turned round and walking out the room, "by the way, Serah has the food ready." With that she was gone.

Hope rolled his eyes before he signaled Mog to come, this was going to be hard to keep from the pulsian girl. Hope and Mog looked back to make sure everything was off before walking out of the study, closing the door behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

"We're back!" Dajh said as he ran through the door where the gang lived, Sazh followed his son in before closing the door.

"Dajh!" Vanille smiled as the small boy ran up to the dining table where Serah, Hope, Vanille and Mog were eating. Vanille got out of her seat before kneeling down to hug the small boy, he happily hugged her back. "Big sis, Vanille."

Hope smiled before he reached over to get some of Vanille's food, "I guess she won't notice…" Vanille instantly looked up and slapped his hand away, "…ouch!"

Vanille pointed a finger at the young director, "Don't think about it."

Hope smirked before he resumed eating his own food, Vanille sat back up, putting Dajh in the seat next to her.

Sazh decided to sit across from his son and next to Serah, he looked over and saw the young boy push his food about with his fork, he shook his head. "Dajh, eat your salad auntie Serah made."

The small boy shook his head before pushing the plate away from him and towards his dad, Sazh quickly stopped him and pushed the plate back. The boy groaned, "Daddy, I don't wanna eat it!"

Vanille smiled as an idea came to her head, she looked at the young boy with sparkles in her eyes.

"Dajh?" he looked up at his sister figure, "Mmm?"

Vanille's smile turned into a small grin, "If you eat your food, I will make sure big brother Hope will make dessert."

The scientist scoffed, a few moments later he felt a pain run through his leg as Vanille kicked him.

"Fine! I'll make the dessert, if you stop abusing me," he gave in before Vanille nodded her head, victoriously.

The small boy's eyes lit up before he began to munch into the green plants, Vanille turned back to her plate and began to eat her own.

-LINE-

The group finished their food but three plates had been left for Snow, Lightning and Noel. Serah put the leftover food in the fridge before exiting the kitchen, she didn't look to happy, almost worried.

Everyone stared at her as she bit her bottom lip, she was almost shaking. Sazh decided he would comfort his friend.

Serah smiled before she began to talk about the missing trio, she was scared for her friends, "I just want to know where they are. They've been gone for ages."

"What if we all go to New Bodhum and ask Maqui where they went?" Sazh suggested before Serah shook her head, her side pony swaying.

"What if monsters attacked?"

Sazh rubbed his chin in thought before sighed sadly, "Miss solider might not be tough enough, I don't know about Noel but Snow lost his brand."

Serah nodded, "Yeah Etro must have known he would be of use in the future," the pink haired girl added.

"You would need the power of a l'cie to kill strong monsters of their kind."

Mog jumped up as waved his clock wand about in the air, "I know how we can kill the monster, kupo. Big broth-,"

The rest of Mog's sentence was muffled into the palm of Hope as the small creature flailed its arms around helplessly. Hope gave a small smile.

"Hope, what did you do that for?" Vanille asked as she lifted the small animal out of Hope's grip before rocking it in her arms. Hope mumbled something before Mog realized what he had almost told.

He swore to Hope that he would keep his l'cie side a secret, he almost broke that promise. Mog felt like hitting himself over the head, he quickly looked up at all the faces, staring at him.

Mog looked at them with a sheepish stare, Hope crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the creature.

"I mean that erm," Mog shook slightly trying to think of an excuse, "Maqui can make the guns, kupo."

The silver haired man sighed with relief before Vanille let the moogle fly away back over to Serah.

"Serah, do you want us to call them?" Sazh asked, the young girl nodded before she took out her phone.

She dialed Snow's number before the mobile rang, Serah bounced her weight from one foot to the other nervously.

"Hey, Serah." Snow's voice said from the other end before a long clang came from his side. Serah put one hand on her hip.

"Snow, what are you doing?" Serah asked before a loud bang sounded from his end of the receiver, she heard him let out a light chuckle.

"Erm nothing. Hey sorry we missed lunch but I'll make it up to you promise!" he quickly said before Lightning's voice could be heard from the background.

"Snow!" Serah growled, she knew when her fiancé lied; actually anyone could tell when Snow lied.

"Bye Serah, love you!"

Serah heard the mobile cut off before a robotic voice came through saying the other person has cleared.

The pink haired girl huffed before she stuffed her mobile back into her pocket. She sadly sat down on one of the dining room chair before she looked up at everyone, they looked down at her as well.

"Well…" Vanille started, "Will we go after them?"

Sazh quickly shook his head. Everyone now faced him; startled.

"We can't just wait for them to come back! Something was going on in the background when I was talking to Snow." Serah protested; Hope nodded in agreement.

"Serah's right, we should go look for them," Hope crossed his arms over his chest before resuming speaking, "They're probably doing something for Maqui."

"Yeah, I think we should go to Maqui!" Vanille agreed before Dajh came running over next to her; she held the little boy's hand.

"Yeah dad, let's go," Dajh smiled as he swung his arms; Vanille's joining in suit, "it will be fun."

Serah nodded before Sazh's bird named Choco-Mog flew out of his hair and onto Serah's shoulder. It chirped with agreement before it jumped up and down.

Sazh rolled his eyes before he sighed in defeat, "Fine, but if someone gets hurt; don't blame me."

Mog flew over to the door before he grabbed the handle and opened the door, he waved over at the others.

"Let's go!" Mog yelled before he flew out the door with the others following.

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The gang walked down the sandy beaches of New Bodhum; people were laughing and playing, running about.

"Wonder what its like to live here," Vanille said as she skipped along the shore, "looks good."

Hope laughed before he ran up beside Vanille before holding her hand; she slowed down as the walked along the shore; talking and laughing.

"Don't they make a good couple? Kupo." Mog thought out loud. You could paint a picture of a random couple walking on the beach but this wouldn't be an original painting of a couple walking on the beach; this is like the fairytale couple.

"Hey guys!" Maqui yelled over as he ran past, the others smiled before walking ahead. Wait. Maqui was the reason they were here.

"Maqui wait!" Serah yelled as he dashed after the blond, the others soon followed as the young boy turned round.

"Erm, what's up?"

"Where did Light, Snow and Noel go?" Sazh asked as he held little Dajh's hand, Maqui thought for a moment.

"They went through a gate to find parts, they need for the-"

Maqui stopped when he caught a glimpse of Vanille and rephrased his sentence. "I mean the get the parts for the…erm…motorbike?"

Sazh shook his head while Hope faced palmed himself while shaking his head left to right, Serah sighed.

Vanille looked confused all together, Maqui laughed nervously and Dajh and Mog stayed silent.

"Where did they go?" Hope asked him as he crossed his arms over his chest, Maqui shrugged.

"I can't remember. A tower of some sort, I think," a thought instantly clicked in Hope's head before a smile appeared on his face.

"I know where but…" his eyes traveled to Dajh, "someone will need to stay with Dajh."

Sazh was about to offer but Hope's eyes flickered over to Vanille for a split second and Sazh got the nodded in agreement.

"What about you Vanille? Could you take care of Dajh?"

Vanille smiled brightly before nodding as Dajh ran over to her, she laughed quietly and grabbed his small hand.

"Yeah, that's okay. Where are you guys going anyway?" Vanille asked her friends, Hope smiled before he pointed to wear the meteorite used to be.

"Just through time, don't worry." Hope laughed before he gave her a quick hug, she laughed and let go of Dajh's hand to hug him back.

"You stay here, okay?"

Vanille nodded before she took Dajh's hand leading him towards the NORA house, they both waved at the others.

They all waved back and set off to track down their three friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys. Here is the new chapter for _Oerba Memories._ I know it took a while but it is finally done.**

**In this chapter there is different pairings mentioned.**

***Chapter 4 and chapter 5 will be flashbacks so you can see more clearly what happened to Fang ect.***

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p>Hope held Mog close to his chest as the world turned into chaos. Noel held onto Serah's limp body as the fierce wind hit his face, his hands griped harder onto the Farron sister.<p>

"Hope, are you there?" Noel shouted, Hope let out a sound of confirmation as he stumbled backwards; almost falling off the ship but luckily regaining his balance.

The young hunter continued to get hit by the winds, Hope looked around for the door but it was hard for him to look through the winds.

"Damn it," he cursed before Mog let out a quiet groan as he flailed its small arms, the bobble on his head lit up a light purple once again. Hope let out a small yelp of surprise as Mog punched his chest.

"Mog, you're alive!" Noel yelled over. Mog nodded in the safety of the young's man arms. Hope looked at Serah's limp body as fresh tears filled his eyes again but he quickly shook them off.

Another gush of wind was enough to blow Noel off his feet and Serah fall to the side of the aircraft, Noel quickly scrabbled after her.

"Serah!" he yelled as her right foot slipped over the edge, he quickly grabbed her cold hand and with his free one held onto a large plate of metal.

Another powerful gush of wind and Noel held tighter onto the metal until his fingers were numb; he let go and began to fall off the ship.

"Noel." Hope ran after him; almost losing his footing halfway. He fell on his knees as he reached out for the young hunter's hand, he let Mog flail in his other arm.

"Noel, grab on!"

Noel reached out for Hope's hand before Serah's accessories fell; making her slightly lighter. Hope pulled them up onto the airship before sitting down, in the process he almost dropped Mog.

"Hope, what do we do now? Kupo."

Hope exhaled slowly before shaking his head, "I don't know if this will- if this is something I can fix."

Mog and Hope felt defeated. Well that was until a shining light appeared in the sky and time slowed down.

"What?" Noel said to no-one in particular. The three remaining heroes looked around the chaos as it slowly turned to white.

Mog slowly sat up as a pain shot through his small back but he continued before peering behind the young hunter. Mog almost fainted when he saw someone appear behind him.

"Hello, Mog," a light voice came; gentle and sweet. Noel quickly whipped around and saw her standing there.

Her long bluish-grayish hair flowed down her back, reaching her waist where her small hands were clasped. Green ocean eyes looked down at the hunter as her lilac skirt blew lightly like the petals on the flower she was holding.

"Noel, I told you we would meet again. Right?"

Noel felt the smallest hint of tears brimming in his eyes, urging to escape but he blinked them back.

"Is that you? The real you?"

The girl giggled softly before nodding. Noel lay down Serah gently before standing up to come face to face with the figure.

"Yeul, I can't believe it," he stuttered, reaching out the touch her face.

Yeul stepped back a little, her head down. Noel felt broken but Yeul grabbed his hand, holding it between hers as they both sunk to their knees.

Noel felt the warm tears he was containing spring free down his face, Yeul smiled before she blinked slowly.

"Noel, I missed you so much but I know what you feel for her," Noel gazed at her shocked but her small smile remained in place. "Yeul I-"

The girl shook her head, holding his face between her hands. Noel smiled a little before Yeul dropped her hands and putting them on Serah's lifeless body.

"Noel, promise you will save this land. For me," Yeul whispered quietly as she began to fade away, Noel crawled towards her but she shook her head again.

"Promise me."

Noel shook with sobs as he nodded his head, "I promise."

Yeul let out a small sigh of relief as her body faded, "Thank you, Noel."

With that Yeul faded into the white as Noel reached out for her, "Yeul."

Hope came up behind the hunter and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, Noel hung his head low before a faint groan could be heard.

Noel and Hope's heads landed on Serah as she slowly sat up, rubbing the back of her head with her hand.

"Serah!" Hope and Noel shouted with glee and surprise.

Serah looked round at the two boys as Mog crawled out from behind them, she smiled with tears flowing down her face.

"Noel, Hope, Mog. I'm alive!" she yelled happily as she embraced her three friends, Noel burned a deep shade of red and Hope held back a laugh at his friend's face.

"H-How are you back?" Noel asked her, Serah shrugged while she picked up the still frail Mog. Hope decided to fill in the missing gaps for his friends.

"Well, Noel its sort of like one for another," Hope clarified as the two humans looked at him. Hope continued, "Yeul for Serah."

Serah clamped a hand over her mouth as Noel put his head in his hands, Hope swallowed as he looked around the white space.

"Lightning is here, kupo."

Hope, Noel and Serah's heads shot up before Mog looked at them innocently before the white space disappeared replacing it with a sandy beach, blue waters and lots of ruined buildings. They all looked around before it all clicked in their heads.

They were in Valhalla.

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><p>Vanille groaned while she sat up, her body felt stiff so it took a lot of effort. She looked around to see broken airship pieces, the beach, ruins and deep blue sea.<p>

"Where am I?" she murmured to herself as she stood up and dusted herself off, she looked down at herself to see her skin and clothing back. _I'm not crystal!_ She thought as she looked around and saw familiar black hair with red tips.

"Fang, are you okay?" she asked as she approached her friend, the woman nodded before shakily standing up.

Like Vanille she looked around before letting out a small snicker. Her younger companion shot her a confused look; shaking her head slightly.

"What?" she asked innocently.

Fang looked up at her, "Well, I think the smart kid will get us out of this…somehow."

"Huh?" Vanille said as she thought about it, "Who?"

The tanned woman let out a chuckle before rolling her eyes, "C'mon, you're telling me that you having been paying attention to _him _over the last hundred years?"

Vanille blushed lightly before she got paranoid, "Tell me Fang!"

"Really Vanille? Its Hope!"

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><p>"So where is the rest of the human race?" Serah asked Hope as they walked towards the ruins of Valhalla. Hope pointed to darkened outline of Bhunivelze in the sky of Valhalla, Serah nodded in confirmation.<p>

"Wait but how did it survive?" Noel suddenly asked his friend as he rushed up beside him, Hope laughed a little and shrugged.

"I really have no clue," he admitted truthfully, Noel sighed playfully. "Great. If you don't know, no one will."

Serah and Hope smiled a little before letting out a faint laugh, Noel and Mog soon joined along.

Hope suddenly stopped laughing and looked down away from his friends and directly to the dry sand.

"I remember Serah; you said in Academia that you would like to live like this. Happy together. Like we should be."

The other three stopped laughing and looked at Hope sympathetically as Noel reached out to touch his shoulder, Hope removed the worn out orange material on his wrist to reveal the clear skin underneath.

"If I only had the strength…" he drifted off before the others could hear what he was going to say.

Noel was about to ask something when a loud shuffle could be heard behind them, the four quickly turned around and quickly took up their fighting stances.

"Whoa! Its okay," the intruder said before he picked up his coat the way completely covered in sand.

"Snow!" Serah yelled as she rushed to his side before falling into his arms; pulling him into a tight embrace.

"You're back. Please don't ever leave me again!" Serah wailed into his red shirt, Snow put one arm around her and pulled her closer.

Noel took a quick look at them before mumbling something under his breath. Hope glanced over at the hunter before giving him a sad smile and a pat on the back. Noel looked at his friend and chuckled a little as Mog flew over to Snow.

"Welcome back Snow. Kupo." He said as he flew around the pair, Snow laughed before catching the small creature in his arms. Mog flailed its arms helplessly as Serah said something to Snow.

"Oh come on Serah, you know I missed my favourite moogle!"

Mog blushed a light shade of pink, "Aw shucks, kupo."

Noel innocently cleared his throat; this caused Snow to turn round and smile a little.

"Noel Kreiss! Who's your friend?" he said referring to Hope. This caused Serah to nudge his side, Noel to chuckle a little and Hope to sigh.

Hope walked forward towards Snow who examined him more closely and held out a hand, "Hope Estheim. Director of Academy research. Team Alpha."

"Hope! How's my little buddy?" Snow exclaimed with a strong pat on Hope's back that caused the young director to stumble a little bit.

"I'm fine," he replied calmly as he wrapped the old orange material back round his wrist before looking at the surroundings again. Mog's purple bobble lit up as he flew over to the side of the tallest building.

"Lightning is up here, kupo," he said gesturing to the building. Serah's eyes lit up as she dashed forward and hugged the small creature. Mog flailed his arms around helplessly before Serah glanced up at the building before bouncing on her feet slightly. Snow laughed before he crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist to stop her bouncing. She giggled before spinning round, Snow released her from his grip as she let go off Mog.

"Mog. How do we get up?" Hope asked the moogle as he walked forward to examine the ruins, he placed a gloved hand on it. Some of the cream brick work crumbled away and Hope examined it in his hands before shrugging, "We could risk climbing it."

"No!" they all said in unison, Hope flinched a little before chuckling.

"Suit yourselves."

Hope began climbing the large building until reaching a small ledge and jumping onto it. He looked down at all of the scared _children_. All of their eyes were latched with amazement on the young man, and their mouths were slightly open.

"Okay, you guys can climb up now," Hope said as he _very _carefully leaned against the building, "it's easy."

Once again they all shook their heads with disagreement.

Hope groaned before he began stating the obvious, "Okay. 1, Mog you can fly," he held up one finger before a second one appeared, "2, Serah and Noel I know where you traveled." Finally he pointed a third finger and glared at Snow, "3, Snow I know you can climb and don't lie."

With that Hope dropped his arm and continued until he reached the next ledge a little higher up. They all stared at him before Mog shrugged and flew up towards his friend as he slowly climbed up; he looked round at the moogle.

"Hey Mog," he said as he gripped a large rock piece sticking out of the building and reached yet another ledge. How many were here?

"Hello to you too, kupo."

"Well, I guess Hope has a point," Serah pondered before she walked up to the building, "I'm going to see my sister."

She began to climb the crumbling wall in hope to find her dear sister.

* * *

><p>Vanille and Fang walked ahead towards the centre where the tall building stood as they talked about old friends.<p>

"So what's going on with…hmm Snow?" Vanille asked the older woman as they strolled. Fang thought for a moment before shrugging, her black waves of hair covered her eyes. "Well he got a haircut…or it grew."

Vanille stayed silent before she went through the list of people she had asked Fang about. _Serah, Snow, Lightning, Sazh, a girl from Oerba named Sonia who she was pretty friendly with._

"Tell me about Hope," she smiled at Fang, "I want to know how he is doing."

Fang chuckled before she sped up her pace and Vanille followed in suit.

"Well, he is famous I guess. He is now twenty four I think and he has worked years and years to free us."

All Vanille caught was, "He's twenty four."

* * *

><p>Hope finally reached the top with a breath of exhaustion he pulled himself up and onto the cold stone.<p>

"Had to be the tallest building," he mumbled as he stood up and looked around, he saw pillars and ruins but the thing that stood out was the crystal body on Etro's throne. Mog flew next to him as he stumbled forward towards the throne.

"We need to tell Serah," Hope uttered before his mind alerted to the well-being of his other friends. _Sazh, Fang and…Vanille._ Hope never admitted it but he missed Vanille more than anything: that was the one reason that pushed him forward in his research.

"Yeah, kupo." Mog whispered before flying towards the edge to see how far the others were down. They would only be a few minutes.

* * *

><p>"Look, its Sazh!" Vanille pointed out as she ran towards the man and his son, they both turned round and smiled at the two girls.<p>

"Big sis Vanille and Auntie Fang," Dajh chuckled happily as Vanille hugged the little boy. Fang quickly hugged Sazh before they began talking about the chaos; Vanille was too busy talking to her little _brother._

"Have you been a good boy, Dajh?" Vanille asked before the young boy quickly nodded. The red haired girl was about to say something else but a chirp interrupted her.

"Oh!" Vanille smiled as the baby chocobo flew out of Sazh's hair and around Vanille, she caught the small animal and held it in her hands.

"Did you name it?" Fang asked the Katzroy family, Dajh nodded before he took the bird off of Vanille and onto his shoulder.

"Yup, we named _him _Choco-Mog." The small boy said happily before distant yelling could be heard, they all looked towards the tall building and saw people climb up the sides.

"Oh my…" The younger girl said before she stood up and ran towards the building at full speed, the others soon followed.

* * *

><p>Serah whimpered as she looked at her frozen sister. She walked forward where Hope was standing and examined her.<p>

"Hope, what can we do?" Serah whispered as she gripped his jacket sleeve before giving it a tug. Hope sighed as looked at his pink haired ponytailed friend who was now looking up at him with begging eyes like a 7 year old girl.

"I-I…" Hope stumbled before he thought for a moment, mumbling to himself. Snow and Noel looked quizzically at him while Mog looked at Lightning.

"If we could travel back somehow to Academia 4XX I may be able to fix this whole thing but the only 2 problems are that history would change and we can't travel back." Hope said to them while moving his hands and arms for emphasis.

"You are one smart guy…" Snow and Noel said in amazement. This cause Hope to give a cocky grin.

"Oh, I know."

* * *

><p>Sazh, Dajh, Fang and Vanille climbed the crumbling steps of the building. With Vanille trying to keep up conversation to chase away her friends' nerves; they all continued to climb even though they were scared.<p>

"So, what's going on?" Sazh asked the two girls, "Hope finally saved the world with Noel and Serah and next thing we're dragged into all of this."

Fang stopped before jumping over a broken step, at the moment she was leading the way and actually doing an okay job.

"I'm not sure myself," she replied with a monotone voice that was until she saw a large throne at the top of the steps.

"Hey guys. I think we reached the top."

Everyone carefully went past Fang and onto the stone flooring to see the back of the throne; Vanille hushed everyone as she heard voices.

"Serah, I told you the boy has a plan," Snow voice came from the other side, Vanille clamped a hand over her mouth as another voice came.

"Yeah, don't worry Serah. I think I have it all figured out," Hope said calmly as he hugged his friend.

"Thank you! Thank You!" Serah smiled before Hope let go of her and she ran to Noel then Mog and finally to her fiancé.

"Guys!" Vanille waved over to the others who looked at her by peeking to the side of the throne.

Serah, Snow and Hope's faces lit up as they jumped over the rubble and towards her, leaving Mog and Noel confused.

"Vanille! Fang!" Serah yelled as the two boys came up behind her. She quickly hugged Vanille; gripping her tight before Fang, Sazh and little Dajh.

Snow was next to hug them and finally Hope who went in reverse order starting with Dajh until he reached Vanille who immediately brought him into a warm embrace. The red haired girl found this weird that she was shorter than him now but she didn't care.

"Thank you for saving us," she murmured into his jacket, "Hope."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.<strong>

**Review?**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of Oerba Memories.

**Sorry:** Sorry for the slow update of my multi-chapter story but since I now have time off of school I can hopefully update more often.

**This is the continuation of chapter 4 so it is a flashback so you can understand the story a little more.**

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><p>The group examined Lightning's frozen body with confusion and sadness plastered on their faces, Hope was thinking hard. This caused Noel to look at his friend with worried eyes, "Hope."<p>

The platinum blonde held up a hand to silence him as he continued mumbling to himself and stopping to shake his head once in a while before continuing his murmuring.

"Earth to Hope!" Noel said as he waved his hand in front out Hope's face. Hope's face brightened as he snapped his fingers, a big smile appeared on his face.

"I know how," Hope said in amazement and joy, "I know how to save everyone."

Everyone looked round at the young director; looks of amazement on their faces.

"Really?" Serah said excitedly as she clapped her hands together in front of her. Lightning was coming back.

"Well…sort of," Hope mumbled before opening one of the tool bags at the front. He took out a weird device that looked like a mobile but had a touch screen.

"Oh, I wanna see!" Vanille smiled as her green eyes lit up with excitement. She bounced over to Hope to grab the device. Hope saw what she was doing and held it above his head with a shake of his head.

"No, Vanille." He said sternly, the red haired girl huffed with defeat.

"Please," she blinked her long eyelashes and widened her eyes with a cute expression. Hope looked down at her before clearing his throat and averting her gaze.

"No," he turned his back to her before taping in some things onto the device. Vanille crossed her arms over her chest; she jumped when a loud beeping sound came from the device.

"Excellent," Hope murmured; hints of achievement in his voice. He saw a countdown timer appear on the device counting down from 2 minutes. "Damn!"

"What?" Snow yelled over the loud winds that appeared once the timer started. Hope spun round to face them all; winds whipped around him.

"You all must listen to me," he began. They all nodded as the winds increased their speed almost knocking them off balance. "Right, Noel and Snow you guys get Light from the throne."

"O-Okay," the hunter stuttered as he and the former l'cie dashed over to get Lightning. Hope checked the time; they could do this.

"Serah grab Mog and Vanille, Vanille hold onto Serah and Fang. Fang take Vanille's hand but also Dajh's who will hold onto Sazh. Sazh hold Dajh tightly and make sure the chocobo is there." He said in one breath. They all looked at him except for Snow and Noel who were still trying to free Lightning.

"Next Sazh with your other hand take Snow's who will hold onto Lightning along with Noel; who will take Mog's small hand…I'll join in when everything is set."

Vanille froze at the last sentence before shaking her head; green eyes full of worry, "No Hope. What if you don't make it for the timer?"

Hope let out a breath before he put the device down beside him. "Then I'm lost."

When the girl was about to retort Snow and Lightning came down with the crystal Lightning. They all formed the position but Noel and Mog left a space for Hope, who at the moment was fixing the device that was coming close to one minute.

"Hope hurry!" Noel yelled over to his platinum blonde friend. Hope nodded before dashing over towards the group.

As he reached the circle a hand clamped over his mouth and torso; pulling him away from the gang. They all gasped and the young red haired girl ran out after him, Hope made sounds of disagreement as she ran out.

"Caius!" Noel yelled through gritted teeth, but this Caius was different. This Caius was a ghost of the real version, body melting, dried blood on his outfit and an overall horrifying figure.

"Noel Kreiss," the ghost grinned evilly as his hands drifted to Hope's throat; enclosing them around the creamy flesh.

Hope made a sound as the figure tightened his grip around his throat; he was losing air fast so with little strength he had he elbowed the ghost in the chest. This gave him an advantage as Caius stumbled back slightly. Hope fell onto one knee taking in long breaths as Vanille knelt next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly; helping him up. The young man stumbled a bit; taking in as much air as he could.

"Y-Yeah," he replied breathlessly as he wobbly stood up just as Caius locked his eyes onto the two 'kids.'

He launched for them both but luckily they both sidestepped out of the way, Hope looked over and saw the other trying to get to him. He shot them a dark glare, "No, stay in the circle!"

They all reluctantly nodded as Hope grabbed Vanille's arm and dragged her towards the circle but Caius grabbed Vanille's other arm.

"Oww," Vanille whimpered trying to free herself from Caius' grip. Hope saw her effort and decided to help.

"Let her go," he practically growled as he pulled her towards the circle.

Caius scoffed, "You think I'd hand her over that easy?" he mocked walking forward to kick Hope in the shin. The scientist let out a groan of pain before staggering back, letting go of Vanille's hand. Caius smirked and pulled her back before reaching for his weapon.

"Don't you dare!" Fang warned as the rest of the group's eyes went wide. Hope attempted to stand up but the pain that ran in his leg was too painful. Serah helped him up and pulled him into the circle.

"Try me," the ghost smirked as he dug the blade into her side very gently but just enough to hurt her. The young girl let out a whimper of pain.

Fang moved away from the group, ignoring the group's protests. "That's it."

The black haired woman lunched forward and punched the ghostly Caius in the face. Vanille escaped his grip and ran straight into Hope and little Dajh's grip.

Caius wiped the green blood off of his face that made everyone cringe at the sight, "You little…" Caius hissed at he started to attack Fang who just missed all of his punches. Hope looked at the timer; his eyes went wide as he began to panic.

"Fang you gotta get in the circle," Hope said urgently, "Now!"

"Huh?" she turned to face the platinum blonde but saw their bodies slowly fading, "Crap," she groaned before running towards the group. Caius grabbed her wrist with a powerful grip that made the woman's skin burn.

"Let go," she howled as she saw Vanille looking at her with fresh tears running down her face. Seeing that broke her heart a little.

All of her friends disappeared from sight but not without one last word from all of them.

"Fang!"

"No," Fang whispered as she fell to her knees. She held her head in her hands, "No."

She heard the ghost figure sigh behind her as he walked towards her; stepping on Hope's device on the way. "Such a pity," he began with a wave of his hand. His voice was slowly fading into a mechanical version of it. Fang shivered. "You're all alone," he smirked, "Except you have me."

"Maybe…_just _maybe, I'll target your friends next," Fang's head shot up at that sentence. Her body shook with fear, "Maybe start with the small red head girl."

That sent Fang over the edge, she stood up abruptly and faced the melting ghost, "You little…" Fang sent a kick at the man who sidestepped to avoid her attack.

He chuckled darkly, "Impressive."

* * *

><p>The group landed somewhere in the timeline, a place where tall buildings stood, car flew through the sky and people roamed the streets.<p>

They were in Academia 4XX

* * *

><p>Vanille woke up feeling terrible; like she had a hangover or something. She sat up slowly before looking around, she saw all of her friends; some sitting; some still out.<p>

Vanille counted them with her fingers, okay; Hope, Noel and Snow were awake and talking. Serah was slowly coming through; Sazh, Dajh and Mog were still out cold.

Vanille felt a wave of fear run through her petite body, Lightning and Fang are missing. Vanille felt on the brim of tears and she felt herself call out.

"Hope," she said weakly. The young scientist turned to face her with a bright smile on his face. Vanille instantly felt a small part of her fear melt away.

"Vanille you're okay," he whispered as he crawled over towards her. She nodded in reply before wrapping her arms around the man; pulling him into a hug.

"Hope, Fang and Lightning are missing. Why?" she asked quietly. Hope looked directly into her eyes. Her beautiful green orbs were now shining with tears; making them sparkle. The young man swallowed, this was going to be hard.

"Lightning is here, Vanille," he replied just as quietly. Vanille let out a small breath of relief before she tightened her grip on Hope. Her body was now shaking.

"What about Fang?" she whispered into his ear. She was now regretting that she asked that as she recalled the past events; Fang was gone.

Hope put his head on her shoulder as tears threatened to spill, "She isn't here yet," he replied.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Vanille said as wet tears hit the ground. She broke down when Hope nodded as his reply.

Serah just woken up to hear the news and she instantly placed a hand over her mouth, Snow and Noel had their heads hung and Sazh, Dajh and Mog were just waking up.

"Huh?" Sazh groaned before standing up along with his son, he saw Hope and Vanille sitting on the ground; shaking, Serah was breathing in and out slowly and the two other boys were averting gazes.

"Daddy," Dajh said innocently; tugging on his father's hand, "What's going on?"

Sazh looked down at the child before lifting him up, "Nothing Dajh."

Sazh looked at all of his friends before nodding his head and looking around his whereabouts. He knew they were in the airship control room.

"I'll take Dajh out," he said; exiting the room.

Hope wiped away his tears with his hand before taking Vanille's hand; helping her up. When the young woman was up he pulled her into another comforting hug.

Serah quickly remembered something or rather _someone. _"Lightning," she whispered.

Snow looked at his fiancée and nodded. The two lovers began to search the control room; calling out Lightning's name.

Noel began to search as well for the Farron sister in a hurry he dashed around the room; searching for pink hair and feathers.

Meanwhile Hope was holding his friend while whispering into her ear. Her tears were drying up but not as fast as Hope had hoped for.

He put his hands on her shoulders holding her out at arms length. Vanille wet eyes locked onto his and she saw the determination and fear in them when he said his next sentence.

"Vanille, I swear I'll get Fang back. Whatever the cost I'll make sure she returns."

Hope smiled at his friend and she smiled back before she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Hope blushed a bright red; this caused Vanille to giggle as she wiped away her tears.

"Thank you," she whispered before following Noel; she wanted to find Lightning too. Hope nodded to her retreating form before putting his gloved hands on his face; he could feel the warmth of his face go through his gloves and run through his hands.

"Hey guys!" they heard Sazh's faint voice call from the next room. They all walked towards the room the older man was in.

"What is it?" Hope asked as he walked into the room. He froze in the doorway with everyone trying to peek in over his shoulder. Hope ignored the protests behind him and his eyes locked onto the three humans in the room.

Vanille jumped up to try and look over him but it came to no avail. She huffed in frustration before she kneeled down and crawled under his legs so she could enter.

"There we go," she slowly stood up and brushed herself off. Her eyes looked at Sazh who appeared to helping…Lightning.

"Light!" Vanille squealed as she ran forward to embrace the warrior in a death hug.

Serah heard this she did the same thing Vanille had done but this time she leapt on her sister before giving her the same death hug her friend was giving her.

Hope finally moved into the room letting the other boys in. Snow smiled; happy to have his future sister back and Noel who was holding little Mog went forward to kneel down beside the three girls.

Lightning smiled slightly before trying to escape the two other girls' grips. She was not a hugger…well not that much. "Okay, guys I've missed you all but can you get off?"

Vanille was the first to stand up and give a quick apology but Serah wouldn't let go. Lightning sighed in half annoyance and half playfulness.

Serah held her sister tighter, if that was even possible. She wasn't going to let go so easily, "I'm scared if I let go you'll disappear."

Lightning wrenched her sister off before pulling her into a _normal _hug. Serah hugged her sister back.

"I won't disappear," Lightning said before turning to face her other friends. Snow and Hope made their way towards her and she nodded at them.

Lightning first made her way to Hope before hugging him; holding him tight like he was her own son who she had lost. Hope hugged her back as a single tear ran down his face. Yes he had missed Lightning, she reminded him of his mother. And thinking about his birth mom upset him slightly.

Hope shook it off and smiled at Lightning she nudged his head gently; the way she did when he was 14 years old. She looked at Hope in the eyes before chuckling slightly, "You've grown."

Hope nodded as a reply.

A smile played on Snow's face as he looked at Lightning in fake shock, "Whoa! The great Lightning is _laughing_?"

Lightning rolled her eyes before walking towards her future brother. Once she reached him she put her hands on her hips and shook her head. Serah turned to face them.

She smiled at the pair, "Light, don't go punching him again," she warned.

Snow froze for a second before he used his hands to block his face in defense, "Hey now. There doesn't need to be hitting involved."

Lightning turned back to face her sister; eyes locked onto Serah's. "Serah, do you need to marry _him?_" Lightning half joked.

Snow lowered his hands and his face showed disagreement. Serah laughed before nodding as she turned to face Snow.

"Of course," the youngest sister said as she walked towards her fiancé. Snow quickly took her into his arms and held her close.

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest before turning to face Noel; a smirk appeared on her face.

Noel looked at her with confused eyes, "What?"

Lightning looked back over at Serah _very _briefly before returning her gaze back to the hunter. Serah looked worried but Snow held her even closer.

"Why don't you marry Noel instead?"

Serah gasped slightly, Noel began to choke on air and all the rest of them looked stunned.

Snow growled under her breath as Noel's face went a deep red. Hope made a short laugh before looking towards Snow. He sighed seeing his older friend's envy and decided to calm his nerves.

"Snow, I think Light is only joking," he said looking at Light with a serious expression, "Right?"

Lightning nodded, "Yeah, I gave you my agreement to marry Serah, Snow."

Snow shook his head as Serah left his arms to go towards her sister. Lightning looked around as a puzzled look appeared on her face. She turned and looked at Serah.

"Serah," she began.

Serah looked up at her, "What is it?"

"Where's Fang?" Lightning asked with a small hint of worry in her voice. Serah swallowed as Vanille held back the tears that threatened to spill. Hope clutched Vanille's hand and the older boys stayed silent.

Dajh looked at his father and tugged on the sleeve of his father's jacket. Sazh looked down at his son and smiled slightly, "Dajh?"

"Where is Fang?" the young boy asked innocently. Sazh bit his bottom lip; he looked towards the others for help. Once he reached Hope all the young scientist did was nod as a response.

Sazh nodded in agreement and he bent down to face his son. Dajh looked at his father with innocent face you could ever see; this made it harder for the aircraft pilot to explain.

Sazh cleared his throat before gathering the courage to tell Dajh the truth, "Fang isn't here."

Dajh tilted his head to the side and Lightning clenched her teeth together; fully understanding the _true_ meaning of the older man's words.

"You mean she's…gone," Lightning whispered. Fang was the one person that understood her and thought of her as a sister; like she did with Vanille. "Dammit."

"I'll get her back," Hope said with stern eyes locked onto Lightning's angry ones. Hope continued, "I swore to Vanille and now I'll promise you Light."

Lightning looked away from the director's stare and looked at the grey dull walls of the room instead. "Okay," she said in monotone.

Hope smiled briefly as Noel looked round at him with a proud smile on his face. Noel's face suddenly fell as he crossed his arms over the chest; holding the fabric of his shirt as he thought Hope's plan would fail.

"Hope," Noel started, "Do you even know how to save her or have the right equipment to do so?"

Hope thought for a moment before shrugging, "Well I have a brief idea." Everyone leaned in to hear what Hope had to say.

Hope continued with his idea, "Since we're in Academia 4XX Serah and Noel must have shut down the proto fal'cie but since we're back a paradox has occurred. So proto fal'cie Adam has returned to who knows where stopping us from reaching Fang and Caius. So if we try to locate the fal'cie we could track down Fang but I'm guessing we will need something important to shut it down."

Everyone looked stunned as Hope went through his plan. Okay, _now _he was the smartest man on this planet. Vanille covered her mouth with her hand as tears of joy sprang free from her eyes, Serah cheered and the others smiled and nodded.

Snow patted Hope on the back. Hope smiled at the burly man who smiled back. Dajh clapped his small hands with delight. The small boy laughed, "Auntie Fang is coming back!" he cheered.

Everyone in the room laughed with delight as they knew their family would soon become one again.


	6. Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6 of _Oerba Memories._

Sorry for the wait but I was working on a few one-shots aswell. Anyway this chapter is **not**a flashback we are finally back in real time.

I am leaving to go on holiday on Saturday so there won't be any new updates for a while.

**Anyway enjoy and tell me what you think.**

* * *

><p>Dajh sat next to Vanille in Hope's study while he drew what looked like a picture of Fang. Vanille peeked over to look at the boy's drawing and smiled slightly. It looked like the young boy missed his Auntie Fang, even though Fang wasn't married.<p>

Dajh finished the line drawing of Fang. He held it up to Vanille who smiled in return.

Dajh laughed, "Can you guess who it is?" he challenged. Vanille pretended to not know and made random guesses to amuse the boy.

Vanille put a hand on her chin in a thoughtful motion, "Is it Auntie Serah?" she asked.

Dajh shook his head, "Nope."

Vanille giggled quietly before throwing her arms up quickly before playfully sighing. She smiled, "Well then I don't know," she said with her hands now on her lap.

Dajh smiled innocently, "Its Auntie Fang!" he cheered before sitting his drawing back on the table. Vanille thought for a moment before an idea sprang into her head. She stood up and looked at the drawing of Fang.

"Dajh?" she said sweetly. The boy looked up at his big 'sister'; a confused look on his face. Vanille smiled to reassure the boy before she continued, "Would you like to colour Fang in?"

Dajh pondered on the question before shrugging in response. Vanille took that as a yes and made her way out of the room.

"Two minutes, Dajh," she said before she left to find the crayons. Dajh nodded before adding more detail to Fang's portrait.

Vanille walked through the house that Hope had prepared after Noel and Serah destroyed the Proto Fal'cie. Vanille pondered on the thought remembering about what Hope said about the Fal'cie returning. She cringed at the thought but sadly remembering that it would find them some day.

Vanille breathed out, "Stop worrying yourself," she scolded herself. She continued to walk towards Dajh's room.

Vanille entered the small boy's room, she looked around a bit before moving towards the pack of crayons. She hummed a tune as she picked up the crayons and made her way back towards the exit.

When Vanille returned Dajh was reading a piece of paper. Vanille tilted her head to the side in confusion and fascination. She walked up to the boy and sat the crayon pack down. Dajh's eyes lit up and he grabbed a crayon and started colouring the picture. Vanille picked up the paper and looked at the writing.

Vanille noticed it as Hope's handwriting. She looked at the boy again, "Dajh, where did you find this?" she asked.

Dajh pointed to a shelf above his head before resuming his drawing. Something instantly clicked in Vanille's head. The paper was the thing Hope didn't want her to see. Vanille bit her bottom lip, should she read it? What if Hope caught her? Would he break up with her? What does the paper say? A million questions ran through her head as she held the paper in her hands.

"What should I do?" she whispered.

* * *

><p>Hope, Serah, Sazh, the chocobo chick and Mog entered the time gate and into the<p>

Historia Crux.

"Whoa!" Sazh cried as he flew through time, "Never thought I'd be doing this again."

The chocobo chick named Choco-Mog chirped in agreement.

Hope looked at the chocobo chick. He thought for a moment, "Sazh?" he began. The older man looked at him with a small grin on his face from entering the Historia Crux. Hope chuckled slightly and continued, "Vanille told me you named him Choco-Mog."

Sazh sighed, "Hope. Choco-Mog is actually a girl named Chocolina."

Serah tilted her head to the side, "Noel and I met someone called Chocolina on our journey. She sold us weapons and equipment."

The older man nodded as the chocobo chick, now with _her_ true name; Chocolina, flew towards him and chirped.

"Yeah well, this little bird is Chocolina…sort of," Sazh rubbed the back of his neck and Hope raised his eyebrows slightly in amazement.

"Really? How so?" the young director asked his friend. Sazh watched as the bird flew around everyone in the group before returning to her best friend.

"It's kinda hard to explain, kid."

"Hey," Serah said putting an end to the other conversation and starting a new one, "It looks like we've reached our destination."

It was true they had reached Augusta Tower in very short time. As they reached the end a bright light consumed them and took them to the top floor of the tower. Hope and Serah were the first ones to get up followed by Sazh and Mog shortly after.

"Now where to find them," Sazh murmured quietly.

A loud crash sounded from a few floors below. Serah and Hope looked at each other and smiled; knowing they were thinking the same thing.

"Found them!" they said simultaneously as they dashed down the stairs.

* * *

><p>"Oh…I'm not used to this," Snow said as he knocked out the last Orion and walked over to collect the spoils. He scooped them up and walked back to Noel.<p>

Noel examined each part and nodded as he mentally checked off each part in his head. Okay they now had enough credit chips and _almost _enough potential crystals to make the weapon.

"Right almost got everything," he clapped his hands together before looking around the area that's when he heard the elevator come down. Snow and Lightning looked at each other and nodded; Noel looked at his two friends.

"Serah?" he mouthed and the others nodded before Lightning grabbed their hands and ran into one of the moving rooms.

"Snow, Lightning, Noel," Serah called out as the lift came to a stop, "I know you're here."

They all hopped out the elevator just as a large dark purple shadow appeared in front of them. Noel, Lightning and Snow came out of their 'hiding place' and came up behind the mysterious shadow.

Serah looked behind the shadow and spotted her _family_, "Lightning! Snow! Noel!"

A deep chuckle came from the shadow as it began to take human form. The form looked like a male with no eyes and just a dark purple body; like the body of a manikin. The gang jumped back as they got out their weapons; prepared to attack if it came to that.

The creature let out a high pitch scream as it swayed from side to side (like a nobody from KH2)

"What the hell is that?" Snow yelled just as the top half of the creature's body twisted round to face the blonde before red eyes appeared to take shape in the empty sockets. Snow jumped back just as the bottom half of the body turned.

Lightning clutched her gunblade tightly as Snow tightened his fits ready to pack a punch at the creature if needed. The purple creature's eyes scanned Snow for a moment before it held one hand in front. Snow inhaled slowly as a gunblade just like Lightning's began to take form but the colour still remained purple and ghostly.

"What kind of creature is this?" Lightning whispered to herself. The ghost-like body let out another low and threatening chuckle before it slashed at Snow. In a flashed time slowed down for the group but not for the enemy. Next on the list was Lightning which followed closely by Noel, Serah, Mog and Sazh.

Hope stood with his weapon in hand; being the only one left standing he was quite nervous. The shadow creature smirked as it held the weapon to Hope's neck. Hope let out a quiet growl just as the creature began to transform; this time into a real human. The gunblade was replaced with a large purple and black sword with a red gem on the front. The creature now wore a black outfit with splashes of purple. Lilac hair reached just below the enemies' shoulders. Hope's bright turquoise eyes bore into deep purple ones and the young scientist immediately knew who was standing in front of him.

"Caius!" Hope growled as the blade continued to dig into his neck but not enough to hurt. Caius chuckled darkly as he gazed at Hope's fallen teammates before he turned to face the director again.

"Aren't you going to cure them?" he questioned as he looked straight into Hope's eyes. Hope gave him a cold stare in return which caused Caius to smirk, "You're very short tempered, aren't you?"

Hope's fists tightened as his anger grew, "Why _us_? Why Fang? Why do you want to ruin our lives!" he retorted back as the blade left his neck; leaving a faint red line across the creamy skin.

Caius stuck his sword in the ground; leaving a large crack where it sat and looked at Hope once again, "My life is gone…along with Yeul's."

"You can remain with Yeul in Valhalla," Hope whispered, "But we couldn't live there."

Caius glared at Hope as he said that. Hope eyes met his foe's just when Caius spoke.

"Every single Yeul is dead because the original has left this world."

Hope instantly knew what Caius meant. The real Paddra Nsu-Yeul had swapped her life for Serah's but Caius saw what she did and wasn't happy so he took one of his friends.

Hope pushed the man back as his anger reached boiling point, "Don't you see Caius? Yeul wanted to make Noel _happy_. It was _her _decision."

Hope cast cure on all of his team-members but luckily none of them saw Hope used his l'cie powers. Caius smirked at this then Hope knew what he was planning; he wanted the others to see he was once again a l'cie. Serah grabbed Mog once she was up and turned him into her bow and pointed an arrow at Caius' back.

"What did you do to us? What did you do to Hope? Answer me Caius" she demanded; pulling the arrow back. Caius just stood still as he smirked at Hope who gave him a cold stare. Noel stood beside his angered friend as protection. Serah stomped her foot and shot the arrow but somehow it went straight through him and hit something or should I say _someone _else.

Caius chuckled as he turned to face Serah whose eyes were wide with shock and fear. Caius decided to taunt the girl. He began to clap mockingly but Serah didn't pay any attention to the man, she just ran to her fallen friend's side.

"Damn it," Snow cursed as he held the smaller man in his arms. Lightning looked around to see if she had any potions but Sazh shook his head. Potions wouldn't work with an arrow to the heart, or, at least close to the heart.

Hope eyes locked onto the fallen hunter as his hand twitched to use a spell but could he? This was Noel; Hope's best friend.

Noel was the one to take the damage by the tip of the arrow.

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><p>Vanille just watched on as Dajh hummed a song while colouring in his picture. Vanille's emerald eyes shown in the dim light with glee and happiness; Hope and the others were planning to get Fang back.<p>

It was all ready 9 o clock at night and the others weren't back yet. She was starting to get worried; her nerves seemed to get the better of her so she looked at the time gate that had somehow appeared in the corner of the lounge one evening but they all thought it was handy to use.

Dajh let out a quiet yawn as he put down his crayon. Vanille turned round the face the small boy and let out a quiet giggle as she walked up to her little 'brother'. She knelt down and the boy rubbed one eye with the back of his hand while looking at her.

"Dajh, I think its time for bed."

The small boy nodded as Vanille stood up and took his small hand in hers. She closed the door to the study behind her; leaving the paper that Hope had worked on the table next to the drawing.

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><p>"Dammit," Hope cursed as Lightning tried a phoenix down on Noel but nothing happened. Sazh began to panic; searching his pockets for any healing items.<p>

"Poor Noel," Caius grinned, "An arrow to the heart by his best _friend_."

Snow noticed the way he put the emphasis on friend and he looked at Serah who continued to treat Noel. Snow's eyes held a small amount of hurt in them but he shook it off and faced Caius.

"Don't even joke about this," Snow warned the man. Caius just took one last glance at the hunter before he dissolved in a purple and black flash; leaving the area he stood completely empty.

"We should take him back to Vanille," Lightning suggested, "She's good with healing."

The others nodded as Hope took the injured hunter in his arms and walked towards the time gate.

"Let's get moving," he said seriously.

The chocobo chirped in agreement.

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><p>Vanille tucked Dajh in as the small boy slept. Vanille smiled at the sleeping boy as she turned off his bedside lamp.<p>

She sighed as she turned away from the boy and walked out of his bedroom; making sure to leave the door open for a bit of light to enter the room.

"Vanille?" Hope's voice called out. Vanille followed the voice into the lounge where the time gate sat. There she saw all her friends gathered round the large cream couch.

"Hope, what's wrong?" she asked as she approached her boyfriend. Hope turned to face the red haired girl before she stepped aside and let Vanille see what all the commotion was about.

She let out a gasp as her hand flew to her mouth. "Noel," she uttered under his breath.

Noel's breaths were ragged but they all knew that he was still alive.

Hope looked away from all the worried faces. He knew he could save his friend's life but should he expose the other side of him? Hope shook his head as the two thoughts battled each other, but, Hope knew what it was like to lose friends. He knew what it was like going through that pain.

He knew Lightning and Serah would be heartbroken, heck, even Mog would be sad.

"Hope?" Vanille tugged on the sleeve of his academy jacket. Hope looked at his girlfriend with an apologetic look on his face. Vanille looked at him with concern and worry filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before he turned to face his friend. He slowly raised his hand to the hunter's body and closed his eyes.

"Curaja," he whispered as the blue light flew from his hand onto Noel and even onto all of his friends gathered round their injured friend.

Now they knew his secret.

They all knew he was a l'cie.

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><p>Thank you to everyone who has been following this story and waited for this chapter. I really appreciate it.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, here is chapter 7 of _Falling Apart. _Sorry I took so long but school is holding me back. But I didn't want to dissapoint and delay it for a while so I'm kinda rushing my homework. Haha.

Warning- **This chapter contains slight character death. Also includes alot of SnowxSerah and a bit of HopexVanille**

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><p>Loud rants rang throughout the building, Hope just stood in the middle of it. Noel had awakened a short time after Hope's healing spell took affect and took away his wound, and even he had began to take the other's side on things.<p>

Some of the sentences Hope heard were something along the lines of;

"Why did you become a l'cie?"

"You know what happens when a l'cie fulfils their focus!"

"You are doomed either way, Hope!"

Vanille and Lightning seemed the angriest out of everyone.

He could guess why.

Lightning had always been a mother towards Hope. She would be there when he got to close to a monster; she also looked out for him throughout their whole l'cie journey. And Vanille…Vanille had trusted him since he was fourteen and now he had turned himself into a l'cie and he knew that would break her heart but Fang had to be saved somehow. He had to make everyone happy, even if he couldn't be.

"Guys!" Hope yelled. All ranting stopped and all eyes looked worriedly at him. Hope sighed, "Let me explain everything."

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><p>After explaining the whole l'cie situation to his friends Hope looked at them; wanting at least one person to speak up. No one did except they all went up to hug him. First Lightning followed by Serah, Noel, Sazh, Snow and finally Vanille.<p>

Hope looked down at the red haired girl in his arms and sadly smiled at her. Vanille giggled slightly, her bright emerald eyes shining with happiness and also slight guilt and sadness.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Hope quietly apologized before looking at Noel, "But I guess you saw when I healed Noel. Even if it did show my l'cie side, I couldn't let Noel die."

Noel smiled before mouthing the words 'thank you'. When the hunter met Hope for the first time he wasn't so sure on the young scientist. He knew Hope slightly because Serah had talked about him when one their journey but he didn't imagine for Hope to be like this. He was _amazing_.

He had practically improved and built the Academy by himself to save his friends from their burden of holding a world on their shoulders and make the world better. Noel had also found that he missed his mother and wanted to get her back and have his family back again, including his father.

Bartholomew Estheim had died a while after Hope had joined the Academy; the poor scientist was heartbroken after the loss of his father. Hope had taken the day off to give his father a proper burial. Now Hope was on his own in his household, it felt deserted to the poor boy, having nobody around you was terrible.

Now Noel and Serah had come into his life and made it better, yes he had his Academy friends, yes he had Alyssa at the time but not his _true_ friends. Snow had come back, Lightning had been saved but now Fang was gone. He was going to get her back before Vanille's birthday so they could celebrate as a family.

"I know," Vanille whispered before letting go of the silver haired man. She shot him a kind smile before turning to face her friends. "Well why don't we start to find Fang?"

Hope crossed his arms over his chest and nodded; the others smiled at the young girl and nodded as well.

"Great," Hope came up to stand beside the red haired woman, "Noel, Snow, Light did you get the pieces for Maqui?" The three nodded. "Perfect," Hope smiled.

"All we need to do is go to Maqui and then search for the proto fal'cie," Noel said happily. Vanille smiled just as Dajh's bedroom door opened and the small boy stepped out of his room. One of his hands was rubbing his eye while the other held the door open.

"Daddy?" his innocent voice came quietly. Sazh turned round to face his son before smiling slightly as he walked towards the small boy. "What's going on?"

Sazh picked up his son gently, "Nothing much, Dajh." The father smiled at his only child before turning back to the others who smiled back at the boy and his dad. Sazh turned back to face his son before walking back to the young boy's room.

"I'm going to take this little rascal to his bed," Sazh said the others, "Then I'm going to hit the sack." Once the door closed all of the others nodded towards each other in agreement.

"I think its best to get some shut eye," Noel said wisely, "Clear our minds a bit." Noel looked towards Hope before smiling slightly and pulling him into brotherly hug. "Thank you for saving me."

Hope hugged Noel back before leaning back and patting the young hunter's shoulder. The scientist smiled, "No problem."

Snow yawned, "Time for me to go." The blonde smiled at Serah before kissing her forehead. The pink haired girl giggled, her blue eyes shining with affection and joy. "Night everyone," Snow yelled as he left the room and towards his own bedroom.

"Night!" Everyone called back.

They all said good night to each other before going their separate ways.

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><p>Hope decided to change into a plain grey t-shirt and black pajama bottoms. Mog, who lay next to Hope on the dog bed that Hope had bought, looked up at the scientist.<p>

Hope looked down at the creature as he climbed into his bed; pulling the crystal blue sheets over his cold body. "What's up, Mog?"

"They know now, kupo."

Hope nodded in response and looked at his brand. Hope's brand had no eye it was just an ugly plain black tattoo that he would never dream of seeing again. But here it was, placed where his old one was, on his wrist.

"How did you get it? Kupo," Mog asked as he sat up in his little bed. Hope shrugged.

"To be quiet honest Mog, I'm not entirely sure myself." Hope began, "I remember wanting to bring Fang back from the evil clutches of Caius so I guess I wished for it."

"But the goddess is dead, kupo!" Mog stated, "It couldn't have been her."

Hope shook his head as he looked at his brand, "Your right Mog. Sometimes you have to make deals with the devil not your savior to put things right.

Mog looked away from the l'cie before snuggling into his small bed. Hope had rolled over to face the wall.

"Good night," Hope said kindly. Mog smiled.

"Good night, kupo."

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><p>Serah tossed and turned in her sleep. Nightmares kept filling her head, they wouldn't leave, they would just keep getting worse.<p>

The worst of all woke Serah up with tears streaming down her face.

**Serah's Nightmare**

_Caius looked down from the tall building he was standing on, his dark eyes looked down on the pink haired warrior. Lightning held her blade in her hand tightly as her bright blue eyes scanned the area for this demon._

"_Show yourself Caius!" Lightning yelled. The villain smirked before fading and reappearing behind Serah's sister. And in one single swipe Lightning was out cold._

_Serah tried to reach out for her sister but somehow she couldn't reach her sister and continued to float away from her sister._

_Now Serah found herself in a wide field of flowers with two people sitting in the middle. _

_Noel and Snow._

_Serah ran towards them both, her arms held out wide enough for the both of them. But only Noel stood up and hugged Serah. The pink haired girl's eyes turned to face her fiancée's blue eyes but now saw they were losing their deep blue shine and slowly turning into grey, lifeless shade._

"_Snow!" She yelled as she tried to escape Noel's grip but the hunter wore an evil smile and held Serah tighter. Tears sprang from the girl's eyes as she saw Snow fall forward, no life left in him._

"_Let me go!" Serah screamed as Noel dragged her towards dark room, she wanted to see the flowers again. She wanted to hold Snow one last time._

"_Serah!" _

_It was Hope's voice. Noel threw Serah into the dark room and walked out. Serah looked around frantically. _

"_Hope! Hope, where are you?" She yelled running around the room. She stopped when a small light shown in the corner to show where a 14 year old Hope stood. His ocean-emerald eyes shown with fear._

_Serah ran to the young boy, as if he was her own son, and pulled him into a hug. Tears fell down the boy's puffy cheeks. _

"_Where is she?" he asked quietly. Serah looked at him with a puzzling expression on her face._

"_Who?"_

"_Vanille," he answered with a shaken voice. "Where is she?"_

_Serah looked around for a head of red hair, not one hair appeared in her view. She put her hands on the young boy's shoulders and leaned back, smiling sadly._

"_She'll be okay, Hope." Serah held the small boys gloved hands before taking off his orange wristband. His l'cie brand now had a red eye in the middle of it, Serah replaced the wristband. Serah looked at her arm, her brand was back as well._

_But there was no eye._

"_Serah," Hope whispered, "Wake up."_

**End of Serah's Dream.**

Serah wiped away her tears and threw her covers back. The cool air immediately hit her skin, she was cold in her little pink nightgown that reached the top of her knees. Her pink hair was now down in wavy pink curls, framing her face perfectly.

She ran out of her room and down the hall, towards Snow's bedroom. Sadly Hope didn't have any double rooms where Serah and Snow could sleep but he was kind enough to let them sleep close.

She reached Snow's door and quickly ran in and leapt onto his bed, landing on the blonde haired man.

"Oof," Snow groaned before looking up at the shaking girl that hugged him tightly "Serah?"

"You're alive," she murmured. Snow raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I am," he whispered as he stroked her hair, "I won't leave you again."

Serah sobbed even harder, "You can't promise that!" Snow looked into the girl's eyes with a stunned expression on his face. Yes, he had left her to find Lightning, yes he had found here then disappeared and lastly they found him in the arena and again he had to stay. But now he was with his family, well almost.

"You're not having visions, are you?" he asked worriedly. Serah wasn't supposed to have visions anymore but the future had changed before. Serah shook her pink head.

"No," she played with the necklace around her neck before looking at the bedside table. There sat a picture of Team NORA and Snow's necklace that sat carefully in front of it. Serah smiled.

"You know, out hearts will always be connected."

"Huh?" Snow thought it over before a small smile tugged on the sides of his lips. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Serah seemed happier now so Snow lifted her off. Serah giggled and allowed him to lift her off. She stood at the side of the bed as Snow kicked back the covers. He was wearing black shorts and his usual black hat.

Serah blushed as Snow stood up and took her small hand in his own; leading her out of his room.

"C'mon, you need to sleep."

Serah nodded as Snow practically dragged her down the hall and towards her room. Snow smiled as they entered Serah's room. Everything was a bright pink but it wasn't too overpowering.

"Go lie down," Snow commanded softly. Serah nodded and went towards her bed before jumping under her sheets and onto the foam mattress. Snow knelt down next to the bed and brushed the hair out of Serah's eyes, her eyes glittered.

"How bout we talk about your nightmare in the morning?" Snow suggested kindly as he held Serah's hand. Serah nodded and quickly kissed Snow before leaning her head down on the pillow.

"Yeah," she whispered, her eyes drifting closed. "Night, Snow."

"Night."

Snow stayed until Serah fell asleep, he kissed his love's forehead before walking towards the door and exiting.

That night Serah had no more nightmares and sleep peacefully.

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><p>Thank you for reading chapter 7 and everyone who has followed this story and reviewed.<p> 


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